Khans of Tarkir

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Khans of Tarkir
Set Information
Set symbol
Themes and mechanics wedge colors
Keywords/​ability words Delve, Ferocious, Morph, Outlast, Prowess, Raid
Set size 269 cards
101 Commons, 80 Uncommons, 53 Rares, 15 Mythic Rares, 20 Basic Land
Expansion code KTK
Development codename Huey

Khans of Tarkir is the 65th Magic expansion, and the first in the Khans of Tarkir block. It is to be released on September 26, 2014. Khans of Tarkir is a large expansion. [1]

Set details

“  Raise your Banner  ”

Khans of Tarkir is part of the Khans of Tarkir block, which will be Large-Small-Large with a unique draft structure (the small set is drafted with both large sets, but the large sets are never drafted together)[2] and a time traveling element. The draft structure is the first thing from which Khans of Tarkir set was built [3]

Khans of Tarkir contains 269 cards (20 basic lands [4], 101 commons, 80 uncommons, 53 rares, 15 mythic rares), and includes randomly inserted premium versions of all cards. Like Scourge before, the set is Dragon themed. The expansion symbol depicts crossed swords on a shield, similar to the symbol of Legions.

Because of post-release changes in the block structure, Khans of Tarkir and all future sets will only be played in Standard for 18 months. [5]

Storyline

Tarkir is a world embattled with ambitious warlords and powerful clans that wage eternal war for supremacy of their plane, a conflict that spans over a thousand years. Tarkir is also the home plane of Sarkhan Vol. It was previously inhabited by dragons, all of whom were killed before Sarkhan's period of servitude. [6] The clans each worship one aspect of the extinct dragons. [7]

The clans

The clans are represented through enemy wedge colors and aspects as follows: [8] [9]

Name Colors Dragon Aspect Mechanic Symbol Khan
The Abzan Houses {W}{B}{G} Endurance Outlast Scale of the dragon Anafenza, the Foremost
The Jeskai Way {U}{R}{W} Cunning Prowess Eye of the dragon Narset, Enlightened Master
The Sultai Brood {B}{G}{U} Ruthlessness Delve Fang of the dragon Sidisi, Brood Tyrant
The Mardu Horde {R}{W}{B} Speed Raid Wing of the dragon Zurgo Helmsmasher
The Temur Frontier {G}{U}{R} Savagery Ferocious Claw of the dragon Surrak Dragonclaw

Notice that while the shards of Alara were centered around the color that had both allies, the wedges of Tarkir are not built around the color that has the two enemies. When the design team built the clans to match the flavor of the dragon attributes and the creative take on the clans, they found that they centered not on the enemy color but one of the ally colors. Everything worked so naturally, though, they felt it was best to leave it be and not force it another way. [10] By shifting the mana costs such that the enemy pairs were sitting next to each other in mana costs, it became a little easier to recognize that each wedge was made up of two enemy-color combinations. [11]

Marketing

A preview of the set's artwork was aired during Pro Tour Journey into Nyx, following the quarterfinal rounds. [12] In it Mark Rosewater (Magic head designer) announced the return of something "that people have been asking [ Wizards ] to do for quite a while [...] after a long absence from magic" as well as the introduction of something that has been requested for a long time but had never been done before. These elements turned out to be morph and wedges, respectively, when the set was previewed at San Diego Comic-Con on Saturday, July 26, 2014. Mark Rosewater moderated a panel featuring Mark Purvis (Magic director of global brand marketing), Doug Beyer (Magic senior creative designer), and Gavin Verhey (Magic designer). [13] [14] [15].

Khans of Tarkir will be sold in 16-card boosters (one card being a marketing card), five intro packs, one event deck and a fat pack. [16] As of Khans of Tarkir, the face cards in Intro Packs will not just be premium rare cards, but alternate art premium rare cards that won't be found in booster packs. [17]

Prerelease

The Khans of Tarkir prerelease endorses the player to affiliate with their clan. [18] You choose your clan for the prerelease. Each clan prerelease pack comes with a clan button and a clan sticker. The prerelease pack further contains 5 regular booster packs, 1 seeded booster pack, 1 premium promo card, 1 clan information card, 1 activity insert and 1 Spindown life counter. Khans of Tarkir will feature 40 prerelease cards — one dated and stamped prerelease card random from a pool of eight for each Clan pack. One of which will be the Khan. "Raise your banner": when a game is won, players can put their sticker on the clan banner in the store, to show off how many battles each clan has won. [19]

Promotional cards

Tokens, emblems and overlay cards

Morph overlay card.

The sixteenth card in the boosters can be a token, emblem or overlay card, with an advertisement on the back side. The overlay card will be used on face-down Morph cards to remind players of their power and toughness and that it can be turned face-up for its Morph cost.[21] [22]

  1. {W} 3/4 Bird for Wingmate Roc
  2. {W} 1/1 Spirit with Flying for Abzan Ascendancy
  3. {W} 1/1 Warrior for the same Herald of Anafenza, Mardu Charm, Mardu Hordechief and Take Up Arms
  4. {W} 1/1 Warrior (alternate art) for the same
  5. {B} 2/2 Vampire with Flying for Sorin, Solemn Visitor
  6. {B} 2/2 Zombie for Sidisi, Brood Tyrant and Empty the Pits
  7. {R} 1/1 Goblin for Goblinslide, Hordeling Outburst, Mardu Ascendancy and Ponyback Brigade
  8. {G} 4/4 Bear for Bear's Companion
  9. {G} 1/1 Snake for Hooded Hydra and Rite of the Serpent
  10. {B}{G} */* Spirit Warrior for Kin-Tree Invocation
  11. Morph overlay card
  12. Emblem for Sarkhan, the Dragonspeaker
  13. Emblem for Sorin, Solemn Visitor

Themes and mechanics

The set centers around wedge colors. Each clan features their own mechanic. In addition all clans feature morph. [11] [23]

  • The Abzan keyword is Outlast ((cost), {T}: Put a +1/+1 counter on this creature. Outlast only as a sorcery.). Cards may have an additional ability whenever you activate the outlast ability.
  • The Jeskai keyword is Prowess: (whenever you cast a noncreature spell, this creature gets +1/+1 until end of turn).
  • The Sultai keyword is the cost-reduction Delve, introduced in Future Sight: (You may exile any number of cards from your graveyard as you cast this spell. It costs {1} less to cast for each card exiled this way). [24]
  • The Mardu ability word Raid and related cards are all based around a very fast, aggressive strategy for winning. Raid gives an advantageous effect if you have attacked with a creature the same turn.
  • The Temur ability word is Ferocious, which gives the player an advantageous effect if they control a creature with power 4 or greater while attacking with a creature with Ferocious or casting a spell with it.

Cycles

Khans of Tarkir has at least twelve cycles.

Mirrored pairs

Reprinted cards

Functional reprints

Strictly better or worse

Preconstructed decks

Intro packs

TBA

Event deck

TBA

References

  1. ↑ Wizards of the Coast (May 19, 2014). "Announcing Khans of Tarkir". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  2. ↑ Error on call to {{WebRef}}: Parameters url and title must be specifiedMark Rosewater (July 26, 2014). "". Tumblr.
  3. ↑ Error on call to {{WebRef}}: Parameters url and title must be specifiedMark Rosewater (July 26, 2014). "". Tumblr.
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  8. ↑ Error on call to {{WebRef}}: Parameters url and title must be specifiedMark Rosewater (July 26, 2014). "". Tumblr.
  9. ↑ Error on call to {{WebRef}}: Parameters url and title must be specifiedMTG Talk (July 26, 2014). "". Tumblr.
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  15. ↑ Error on call to {{WebRef}}: Parameters url and title must be specifiedMark Rosewater (July 26, 2014). "". Tumblr.
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  19. ↑ Error on call to {{WebRef}}: Parameters url and title must be specifiedMark Rosewater (July 26, 2014). "". Tumblr.
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